Justice and Consumers

Dear Readers, A month ago we celebrated the adoption of the EU Strategy on the rights of the child for years 2021-2024. Now, the strategy is available in all EU languages and soon the child friendly version of the strategy will be as well. We want to thank those of you who spread the news about the strategy and expressed their willingness to support its implementation. We very much count on that as we go along and create a child – centred and child – friendly culture in policy making. Now, sleeves up and back to work. We will keep you posted about progress on the implementation of the strategy.

Subscribe, if not done yet and get access to latest news about funding, consultations and projects co-funded by the European Commission, Justice and CERV programmes.

Ahead of this year’s EU Green Week (https://www.eugreenweek.eu/), the European Commission is launching a call for artistic entries under the theme “My World without Pollution”, encouraging young artists to show what a pollution-free world can look like.

This report maps the progresses made by the Member States since the implementation of the 2017 Commission Communication on the protection of children in migration. The Communication aims at protecting all third-country national migrant children at all stages of migration to and within the EU. The report was prepared on the basis of national contributions from 26 EMN National Contact Points.

Subscribe to this newsletter to get updates about games, competitions and activity books to help children discover the EU in a fun way, in the classroom or at home. Or about studying or volunteering abroad. For teachers or parents, the learning Corner is a source of teaching material for all age groups, from inspirations for lesson plans, to networking opportunities with other schools and teachers across the EU.

The 2021 Forum will be held online on 11-12 October. It will bring together leaders, decision-makers, civil society, artists and businesses. The forum will address two overarching topics: young people and Europe’s future and Europe’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be a hybrid event: hosted from Vienna, linking live to European city hubs and other, entirely virtual, online sessions. Submit your proposal for a session by 30 April 2021.

The EU Delegation in Strasbourg and the Permanent Representations of Andorra and San Marino at the Council of Europe are launching a call for artistic video projects from children aged 10 to 17, reflecting children’s views on their own rights. Children should select one or several specific rights of the child which will be the focus of the video project.

The French coalition for international development and humanitarian aid, Groupe Enfance, includes 19 Child Rights NGOs. The checklist has been developed by Groupe Enfance to ensure that children’s rights are mainstreamed in all development and humanitarian aid projects. The checklist aims to provide a list of criteria to help professionals better understand and protect the rights of the child.

Child Protection Hub is a regional initiative promoting better child protection in South East Europe. The newsletter of this new website covers a variety of topics: From restorative justice in cases involving child victims, the need for cross-sectoral work to protect children in conflict with the law, rights in child technology in the digital age.

The report looks at key aspects of lives of undocumented children: Housing, access to services, income and socio-economic situation of households, interaction with residence procedures and enforcement of immigration legislation, as well as trauma often suffered, such as fear of detention or expulsion, or difficulties faced by undocumented children in accessing education.

The pandemic highlighted the need for a holistic view of the state of violence against children during a pandemic. The spread of COVID-19 has caused significant disruption to the family nucleus (internal sphere), but also to child protection services (external sphere), most of which are either suspended or slowed down. As a result, child helpline services are essential in times of crisis, as they remain operational even when physical interactions are limited.

If a child is habitually resident in a third State, the jurisdiction of the court shall be determined in accordance with the applicable international conventions, giving priority to the principle of proximity.

The CJEU ruled in M.A. v. État belge case saying that best interests of the child must be taken into account even in cases where the child is the indirect addressee of a decision, the direct person being his or her illegally staying parent, thereby avoiding his or her removal from the territory.